The GM also must specify the effect of the roll beforehand, which is based on a combination of fictional positioning and the perceived appropriateness of the action being used. These positions define just how badly things will go if the character screws up.

The positions characters can be in are Controlled (the character has an opportunity or an advantage they can exploit), Risky (the default position, the character is taking a chance by making a move), and Desperate (the character is overreaching or in serious danger). While in Apocalypse World the GM is left to adjudicate how ‘hard’ their move is in the event of a miss (or even a partial success), in Blades/Hack the Planet, the stakes are set beforehand. If the highest showing die is a 1,2, or 3, the roll is a miss and the GM gets to introduce further complications (more severe consequences). If the highest showing die is a 4 or 5, the character achieves their goal but there’s either a catch or a reduced effect, here called consequences. If your highest showing die is a 6, you have a complete hit and the character achieves their goal. Needless to say the dice mechanic is different, in essence it’s a “roll and keep” mechanic where only the highest value counts. These ratings are more significant than the equivalent in Apocalypse World because the action or attribute rating in Blades or Hack the Planet is equal to the number of dice you roll. Action ratings are used for, well, actions, while attribute ratings are used for resistance rolls, which allow characters to resist the consequences of rolls. Characters also have attributes, which have values determined by the number of actions under the attribute which the character has a rating in. In Blades in the Dark (and Hack the Planet), characters act via a list of actions, which are given ratings based on points distributed at character creation.

A roll has three potential results: a 10+ means a complete hit and the character achieves their goal, a 7-9 means that the character achieves their goal but there’s either a limitation or a catch, and a 6- means that the character misses and the GM gets to make a move and have complete say in what happens. This roll is modified by the value of the appropriate attribute. In Apocalypse World, characters act via a list of Moves which each use the same core roll, 2d6. Blades in the Dark takes some core principles from PbtA and adapts them, using different mechanics to achieve similar ends. Hack the Planet doesn’t stray far from the core of Blades in the Dark, but very few changes are needed to maintain the right feel for its cyberpunk setting. Storm-chasing cyberpunk sound interesting? Read on. Characters are Glitches, those who eschew the protection (and surveillance) of the corporations from the refugee city Shelter 1 and instead try to make their own way, adapting technology, modifying their bodies, and even fighting the weather to do so. Designed by Fraser Simons, best known for his work on PbtA cyberpunk game The Veil, Hack the Planet means its title literally, and takes place in a dark future where climate change has wrought havoc on the planet.

Of these, Hack the Planet is the second one released and the one I’ve personally been waiting for.

Now, three years after Blades was first available digitally, there are three Forged in the Dark games at various stages of completion: Scum and Villainy, Band of Blades, and Hack the Planet. Where Apocalypse World spawned ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ (PbtA), Blades in the Dark spawned Forged in the Dark, a similar moniker to describe new games which hack and adapt the original game’s ruleset. The frames located in the game (as of version 1.21.Forged in the Dark is out of the starting gates. By using a memory editor like Cheat Engine, it's possible to decide which frame the game will move to next. The stages in Freedom Planet are divided into multiple frames (for example, Dragon Valley is divided into four), and leaving the screen to the right triggers a transition that will move the player to the next frame (the 'jump to frame' event). Since the game was made using Clickteam Fusion 2.5, screens/areas/rooms are internally referred to as frames.

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